We’re less than a week out from the 32nd Annual South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway, and what has been considered by many to be one of the biggest Late Model Stock Car races of the year is cementing its place as the biggest. Nearly 60 drivers have filed an entry to race for this end-of-year crown jewel victory, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the return of the iconic red Budweiser No. 8 car.

And that’s where we’ll start our at-a-glance entry list breakdown, because when Dale Earnhardt Jr. is entered, he is the hands-down headliner. Earnhardt announced last month that he was reuniting with Budweiser and bringing back the iconic red No. 8 scheme to Florence, and since then the anticipation for this year’s South Carolina 400 has been through the roof. Perhaps we’ll see one more victory for Earnhardt and Budweiser as the pair scored 19 victories together between 1999 and 2007. And that’s certainly possible as Earnhardt has been in contention at this race each of the last two years. Earnhardt has completed every lap and finished inside the top 10 in both of his South Carolina 400 starts with a best finish of eighth coming one year ago. What we do know is that if Earnhardt does pull out the win on Saturday, Florence Motor Speedway might get burned to the ground during the victory celebration.

All wrapped and ready for Florence. pic.twitter.com/Lp2T5DXlpu

— JR Motorsports (@JRMotorsports) November 18, 2024

Earnhardt Jr. isn’t the only driver with ties to the NASCAR Cup Series attempting to win Saturday’s South Carolina 400. Josh Berry has partnered up with Tom Usry to pilot the No. 17 machine this year. Berry, who won this race when it was still the Myrtle Beach 400 at Myrtle Beach Speedway in 2017, is still looking for his first win in the South Carolina 400 here at Florence. Though he’s won at Florence before, Berry’s best finish in the South Carolina 400 came in 2020 when he finished second behind Ty Majeski.

Next up on our list has to be the defending race winner, and that is Kade Brown out of Denver, North Carolina. Brown, who was already a track champion at Florence and Hickory Motor Speedway, really put his name on the proverbial map by going out and dominating the second half of last year’s South Carolina 400 to score the victory. Brown went out after and had a disappointing rookie CARS Tour campaign plagued by bad luck, but now he’s returning to Florence’s 400 with some momentum on his side. Brown, who is now driving a R&S Race Cars house car, scored the pole and a top-five finish with his new team at the Orange Blossom Shootout at Orange County Speedway two weeks ago.

Our next driver also put his name on the map by winning at Florence in 2022, and that of course is the newest CARS Tour champion, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen. Queen made his debut for Lee Pulliam Performance in the 2022 South Carolina 400, and they made a statement together by winning that race. Since then, Queen went on to win six CARS Tour races, the 2024 CARS Tour championship, the 2023 Thanksgiving Classic, the 2023 Battle of the Stars, and two Hampton Heats in a row with LPP. Queen has teased that he most likely will not be back with LPP in 2025, but how special would it be if the pair can bookend their tenure together where it all started with a second win at the South Carolina 400.

The next driver we’re going to highlight is without a doubt the hottest driver in LMSC racing right now, and that is Fredericksburg, Virginia’s Conner Jones. Jones has now won three straight races including the final two races of the CARS Tour season at Tri-County Speedway and historic North Wilkesboro Speedway. Jones then went to New River All-American Speedway last weekend and won the Battle of the Stars. In his three prior South Carolina 400 starts, the results have been a mixed bag for Jones. He finished sixth in his first start in 2020, but since then he has not finished better than 18th. He finished 22nd in 2022, but he did manage to lead 54 laps.

This year’s South Carolina 400 also has some familiar faces in new places, and some new faces in new places too. We already mentioned Kade Brown with his new team, but this weekend at Florence marks the debut of Carson Loftin in the Nelson Motorsports No. 22 Toyota. Loftin has cut his teeth in the SMART Modified Tour world, winning five of the 14 races this year and finishing second in points. Loftin is taking over the Nelson Motorsports machine from Connor Hall, who just finished second in CARS Tour points in that ride. Hall has moved over to JR Motorsports where he won in his debut in that car at Hickory’s Fall Brawl two weeks ago.

With an entry list that has more than 55 cars and drivers on it, we could keep going, but we have to end it somewhere. But let’s just say that this year’s South Carolina 400 is one that you are definitely not going to want to miss.

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2024 South Carolina 400 Entry List